Nick Evangelista-Hamburg

Seven Hamburg graduates were playing college baseball on the same day last week. That says a lot about the Hawks’ program. Nick Evangelista is in his 12th season as the head coach. He’s also the manager of Hamburg’s legion baseball team. Evangelista has a record of (159-88) at the high school level. He led the Hawks to the Class 4A state semifinals in 2019. We talked about his longtime assistants and how they’ve been able to produce so many successful players, including UNC-Greensboro pitcher Hunter Shuey. Although Shuey has moved on to the Division I level, Evangelista likes the pitching depth of this year’s ball club. Tristan Baer tossed a 3-hitter with 10 strikeouts and one walk in their season opener last Friday. Hamburg shutout Fleetwood 2-0. Evangelista emphasized that it was a special outing by Baer. The 6’2, 205-pound senior is committed to PSU-Harrisburg. The all-division selection has been working on his curveball to go along with a fastball in the upper 80’s. Baer had 43 strikeouts in 35 innings last year with a 2.40 ERA. He also hit just shy of .400 with 24 RBI in 22 games. Senior Austin Miller, who’s going to Albright, returns on the mound for the Hawks. They went (13-9, 8-4) a season ago to finish in third place in Division 3. Hamburg qualified for the District 3-4A playoffs as the #10 seed. After knocking off Littlestown, the Hawks fell at second-seeded Eastern York 6-0 in the quarterfinals. Evangelista believes that Division 3 will be tough again in 2022. Wyomissing will try to defend its division crown despite graduating nine seniors. Oley Valley has a new head coach in Jeff Pinder. He takes over for Nate Reed who guided the Lynx to their ninth District 3 championship last year. Hamburg will be strong up the middle with Conner Licklider at second base, Luke Bensinger at shortstop, and Nate Gilbert behind the plate. All three started as sophomores in 2021. Licklider and Bensinger were named honorable mention all-division. Gilbert hit .286 with 15 RBI and an impressive .503 on-base percentage. Licklider scored 23 runs and drove in 16 while batting .361. Bensinger piled up eight doubles to go along with his .316 average. The Hawks have a couple of freshman in the lineup. Hunter Shuey’s younger brother, Tyler, is at third base and Scottie Dunleavy will roam center field. Brayden Kamp is back at first base. He’s headed to PSU-Berks. Since Evangelista is also Hamburg’s head basketball coach, I asked him for a prediction on the Final Four. Plus, you’ll find out about his favorite sports movie.